Howard County Executive Calvin Ball highlighted Howard County’s 2020 Census response rate of 79.9%, which has surpassed the 2010 rate of 76.7%. The rate is 34th highest in the nation out of 3,215 counties and second highest in Maryland. Howard County’s Internet response rate of 74.7% is the best in the state.
“We take pride in being a state and national leader in census completion and self-reporting, with more than 74% of our residents completing their census online,” said Ball. “But we will not stop here. We’re in the last leg of this race and need to push ourselves. We are working to exceed our 2010 final response rate of 81% ̶ and we’re nearly there. For every person not counted, we lose out of $18,000 in federal funding. Especially now, these funds are critical to support our growing population, provide vital government services like emergency personnel, and create a high quality of life for all who live and work here. We have 20 final days to make sure our message is heard. The Census is safe, easy and important.”
Howard County also joined multiple complaints against the Trump administration for their restrictive census policies. Howard County joined an amicus brief to stay the administration’s rushed plan to complete the Census by Sept. 30, when it was originally scheduled to be completed on October 30 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The case is currently pending.
Additionally, Howard County joined a lawsuit against the administration for its policy attempting to “exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status.” The exclusion of undocumented persons would significantly impact the apportionment of congressional districts and the electoral college. The three-judge panel in this case entered the decision that ruled the president’s directive to exclude undocumented persons from the census count as unlawful and commanded that the presidential directive not be implemented.